Chapters (52)
- Copyright
- Dedication
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Acknowledgments
- Read More from the Market of Monsters Series
- More Books from HMH Teen
- About the Author
- Connect with HMH on Social Media
“I’m not in her head. I don’t know.” He met her eyes. “But if I had to guess, it was because she’s a fucked-up control freak who’d rather murder her best friend than let said friend make her own life choices.”
A chill went all the way down Nita’s spine, and she took a step back, heartbeat loud in her ears.
She suddenly saw just how stark the parallels between her own life and Nadya’s were. Her mother had killed Nadya’s boyfriend to regain control of her friend. It hadn’t worked, and she’d committed the ultimate act of control—taking Nadya’s life.
And now, decades later, her mother was doing it again. She was coming after Kovit. And when Kovit was dead, and Nita still refused to return to her mother, would her mother kill Nita too?
That, more than anything, made Nita believe Andrej’s side of the story. Because he couldn’t possibly know about what was happening with her mother and Kovit, and the parallels were too strong to be a coincidence.
Andrej continued, oblivious to Nita’s slowly mounting horror. “Afterward, your mother had her pet lawyer propose a bill.”
“Her pet lawyer?” Nita asked, clinging to the distraction, something else to focus her mind on while her subconscious worked through the truths she was faced with.
The “pet lawyer” had to be her father, a legal consultant and her mother’s partner in the black market industry. A person Andrej had only minutes before denied knowing the existence of, never mind the murder of.
Liar.
“Yes. He made the first proposal for the Dangerous Unnaturals List. It claimed if even I could kill Nadya after we were together for forty years, no vampire could live without murder. The council was full of old hunters already angry at Nadya for curtailing their murder sprees, and they passed the bill. The DUL was born with vampires at the very top.” His voice was bitter. “Followed closely by every other creature your mother used to enjoy killing and thought she could make money selling.”
Nita stared at him, mouth open. This couldn’t be true. Her mother couldn’t be responsible for the Dangerous Unnaturals List. It simply wasn’t possible.
Except it was definitely something her mother would do.
Nita kept her tone mild. “It sounds like you had quite a grudge against all the people involved.”
“Oh, I do. I’ve spent the last twenty years trying to kill them all. Those wretched INHUP hunters. Her wretched pet lawyer. And especially your mother.”
And there it was. Everything made clear and in the open.
In all probability, her father’s killer was in front of her. The signs pointed to it, even if he hadn’t confessed it outright. She should feel vicious, want to carve his heart out. She should press him on his slip-up, bully a confession out of him.